Ind vs Aus: Old rivalries heated up again at Saint Lucia

Castries, Saint Lucia: India and Australia have once again come face to face on the stage of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 on Monday in Saint Lucia following their old rivalries on the fields of cricket. However, this time, the rivalry was won by India, resulting in the knockout of Australia from the tournament.

India has qualified for the semi-final round of the ICC Men’s T20 Cricket World Cup 2024 by securing three consecutive wins in the Super 8 stage. And, yesterday’s win most notable one which was against Australia due to their history, making India topped the chart of the Super 8 stage with 6 points.

Talking about yesterday’s match which was held at Daren Sammy Cricket Ground, Saint Lucia, it started with the toss won by Australia who chose to bowl first, sending India to the innings of batting. With the first slow over by Mitchell Starc, team India didn’t get a good start and the conditions further got intense with the duck wicket of the World’s Best Batter Virat Kohli who was taken by Josh Hazelwood in the second over.

Then, Rishab Pant came to strike, from where the entire cricket setup of Australia which was started in the first two overs came to an end with powerful sixes of the Indian skipper Rohit Sharma. He played a strong inning against Ausies’ powerful bowler Mitchell Starc with three sixes in one over.

Rohit Sharma returned to his hitman form in yesterday’s match against Australian bowlers while playing an inning of 92 runs off 41 balls powered by 7 fours and 8 sixes, leading his team to make a total of 205 with the loss of 5 wickets in 20 overs.

The wicket of Rohit Sharma was taken by Mitchell Starc, making Suryakumar Yadav come to the crease who played an inning of 31 runs off 16 balls. Further, short spells from Hardik Pandaya and Ravindra Jadeja also contributed well to the total of India against Australia.

In response, Australian batters also came in strong form against Indian bowlers with the loss of the early wicket of David Warner by Arshdeep Singh. However, the strong inning of Travis Head with the runs of 74 of 43 balls threatened the victory chances of India.

Indian bowlers have also showcased their classic approach along with batters as Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav- spinners have made the team come back to the game. Yadav took two wickets with 24 runs and Arshdeep put the essential over of two wickets which has somehow changed the scenario.

However, the most significant wicket of Travis Head was taken by Jaspirt Bumrah- considered one of the world’s fastest bowlers. He sent Head back to the pavilion as Rohit Sharma took his catch which made India win the game.

Yesterday’s match was considered one of the most interesting matches of the ICC T20 World Cup just because of their old rivalry as Australia defeated India in the finals of the ODI Cricket World Cup which was held in November 2023. The rivalry was coming from the defeat of India as Australia also defeated the team in the World Test Championships.

Now, India defeated Australia which has created pleasure among the fans of Indian cricket which has turned into memes. The second last match of the Super 8 stage of the T20 World Cup was won by India at Saint Lucia which led them to reach the finals, scheduled to take place in Guyana on June 27, 2024.

The last match of the Super 8 stage was held between Afghanistan and Bangladesh which was won by Afghanistan. Now, four teams have reached the semi-final round which included South Africa, England, India, and Afghanistan.

The first semi-final will be held between South Africa and Afghanistan and the second semi-final will be held between India and England on June 27, 2024.